My goal is to inform potential law school students and applicants of the ugly realities of attending law school. DO NOT ATTEND UNLESS: (1) YOU GET INTO A TOP 8 LAW SCHOOL ON SCHOLARSHIP; (2) YOU GET A FULL-TUITION SCHOLARSHIP TO ATTEND; (3) YOU HAVE EMPLOYMENT AS AN ATTORNEY SECURED THROUGH A RELATIVE OR CLOSE FRIEND; OR (4) YOU ARE FULLY AWARE BEFOREHAND THAT YOUR HUGE INVESTMENT IN TIME, ENERGY, AND MONEY DOES NOT, IN ANY WAY, GUARANTEE A JOB AS AN ATTORNEY OR IN THE LEGAL INDUSTRY.

Friday, September 7, 2012

Institutional Idiocy: Indiana Institute of Technology to Open a Law School in the Midst of a Fundamental Restructuring of the U.S. Economy

In chess, the term “brilliancy” is sometimes applied to a spectacular game which often features creativity, unexpected moves, sacrifices and sharp attacks. We are not dealing with anything of this nature with the subject of this entry. In fact, this may be one of the biggest blunders recently committed by a supposed “institution of higher learning,” in this nation.

“I Have a Bright Idea. Let’s Open a Law School in the Midst of the New Economy!”:

Elie Mystal reported that this garbage heap was planning to open a new law school, on May 18, 2011. The entry was labeled “Indiana Tech Moves Forward With New Law School Plans. Can Nobody Stop Them?” Read this biting excerpt:

“Does somebody have to die? Does somebody have to commit suicide? Does somebody have to leave a suicide note that reads, “I just couldn’t go on paying off the debts I incurred from going to law school”? What is it going to take before somebody, some organization, some kind of regulatory authority steps in and prevents universities from opening up debt-generation shops under the guise of providing legal education?

There have been some recent successes in the fight to get people to think before they open a new law school. Plans to further saturate the legal market with expensive J.D.s have been tabled in North Texas and Delaware.

But this is a game of whack-a-mole that can’t be won without regulatory control. The Indiana Institute of Technology is going forward with its law school plan, because no one will stop them…

I’ll start where we have to start when discussing a possible new law school. TaxProf Blog reports that tuition will be $28,500 at Indiana Tech Law. That’s $85,500 over three years. You could go to the well-established law school at Indiana University – Bloomington, a top 25 law school, for less money (assuming you’re in state). [Emphasis mine]

Hell, if a law student shot and killed a dean, a “law professor” and another student, the school would likely receive full ABA approval. This exact scenario took place at the then-provisionally-accredited Appalachian Law School on January 16, 2002. Keep in mind that the pigs only care about money! Human lives mean nothing to these thieving bastards.

On August 28, 2012, the NaTTTional Juri$TTT published a piece entitled “Indiana Tech to offer unique early admissions process.” Read the following portion:

“Indiana Tech will accept early applications from Sept. 15 to October 31, 2012 for Fall 2013, the year the Fort Wayne, Ind. school will open.

“For those who have said that they really want to attend Indiana Tech and do not plan to apply to any other law schools, we can speed up the process and reduce their application costs,” said Assistant Dean for Admissions Jessica Anderson.

The law schools plans to identify and admit applicants as quickly as possible. A reduced application fee of $25, down from $50, will be required at the time of application.”

The school is hoping to lure in more mental midgets who have limited options, pertaining to obtaining a “legal education.” Plus, the rats know that law school applications are down significantly. They need to attract students from a smaller pool of lemmings.

On August 8, 2012, Jack CriTTenden posted an article on National Jurist, under the headline “Indiana Tech hires minority dominated faculty.” Take a look at this comical paragraph:

“Indiana Tech Law School, which expects to open in Fall 2013, hired its first faculty members — André Douglas Pond Cummings, Victoria Duke, Guadalupe Luna, and Phebe Poydras. The new hires are all minority women, except for Cummings who received his J.D. from Howard University. Peter Alexander, who was previously at Northeastern School of Law is African-American.”

The sewage pit will charge an estimated $28,500 in annual tuition. But the university is hiring a bunch of women and minorities to teach at the commode. So that makes everything okay, right?!?!

“The Dean is fully informed as to the Standards and Rules of Procedure for the Approval of Law Schools by the American Bar Association. The Administration and the Dean are determined to devote all necessary resources and in other respects to take all necessary steps to present a program of legal education that will qualify for approval by the American Bar Association. The Law School makes no representation to any applicant that it will be approved by the American Bar Association prior to the graduation of any matriculating student.”

At least, this vile mass of vomit does not make any such claims to its applicants. Of course, this is pretty much the one area where the school could guarantee a positive outcome - since the ABA basically accredits any building with running water, bookshelves and an internet connection. We’ll see how they ethical they are in a few years, when employment placement figures are published.

Conclusion: The Indiana Institute of Technology does not give one damn about its future students. The administrators realize that law schools are cash cows to the universities. Why should a brand new law school – at a trash pit of a university – be allowed to charge $28,500 in annual tuition?!?! The state of Indiana, with an estimated population of 6.5 million residents, already has four law schools – including those at Indiana-Bloomington and Notre Dame. Good luck competing for jobs with those name brands and alumni networks. Hell, that is akin to fighting a professional boxer, with one arm tied behind your back - while hopping on one leg.

39 comments:

Now if they would only offer a box of Slim-Jims and some pickled pigs feet with the reduced application fee, then I "might" be willing to send my application! This place will be an EPIC FAILURE in 5 years or less.

Higher ed is not the yellow brick road the Dems and Repubs portray it as. Sometimes it's better to just learn a trade.

We're getting a small chain link fence installed in the back yard. The other day, the contractor was stuck in traffic so he sent his wife over. My husband made payment. And I noticed the wife was this beautiful Latina. And she had her three kids in the car. Her skin was flawless and of course she had a mani-pedi. She wore a cute outfit. (I noticed my husband glancing at her legs and ass too. And he even mentioned how pretty her feet were and how he wouldn't mind sucking her toes sometime.) It was obvious to me she was a stay at home mom. God bless her. I'm sure her husband is making easy six figures and I doubt he has more than a HS diploma and maybe some certification courses as a juco. It's a shame too many people thumb their noses at these professionals, just because they don't have fancy letters behind their name. This guy has it made from what I can tell.

One more thing I forgot to mention. The contractor looked like he was pushing 40. And he was not very attractive or in great shape. If his wife was more than in her late 20s, she had me fooled. Really she was very cute. And she had an adorable figure even after three kids.

Good God, what a hellhole. I live in Fort Wayne and Indiana Tech is advertising this new "law school" in some choice spots- including at the Fort Wayne International Airport and a huge billboard by I-69.

It's sick- I sincerely hope this law school fails. Who in their right mind would pay that much money for a school without alumni connections, with no ABA accreditation, and with very bleak employment prospects. The law school shills prove that humanity can indeed be greedy, self-serving, and disgusting.

The law school professors, admins, deans, etc truly are part of the 1%. Regardless of their race or gender.

I forced myself to watch some of the speeches at the DNC convention. Did anyone catch Elizabeth Warren--Harvard Law professor--railing on and on about the middle class and helping the less fortuante? Oh the irony.

You people need to look at the big picture. You have to lower standards to get the discriminated and disenfranchised opportunities. Blacks, Muslims, Hispanics, Gays, Transvestities, and other future members of the Democratic party need places to go to law school as not all of them are going to be qualified for Harvard with foreign citizenship with a minority background. You see when you allow a country to lower its standards and eliminate the requirements to be a citizen, you need places to educate them.

Fuck it if Tyrone or Achmed dont have the ability or wherewithall it takes to be a lawyer, we need them in school so when they get out(having been passed through year to year so the tuition money keeps coming in), there can be more statistics about discrimination and success in education among our increased idiot portion of the population.

Make fun of this Indiana toilet all you want, but when you lower the standards of a country and its people, you will need more institutions to facilitate these standards. There will be more schools opening up in the future probably in downtown Detroit, Chicago, and I hear UCLA or USC might open a satellite campus in Tijuana.

Other then your Elite of Elite lawyers with family backgrounds and connections in the profession, law is going to become a trash pit of human idiots fighting over worthless cases and giving their clients what they likely pay for ie reduced or no fees.

The system is designed to ruin the middle class and law school is just a part of that transition under the new USA.

Fuck Slim Jims. If yer ass is hungreh, c'mon down to The Colonels. We'll fill ya up reeaaal good wit' some mashed taters, cole slaw, 11 heav'nly herbs 'n spices, some gotdamn corn on da cob. Heck, we's can e'en toss in a couple a muddafuckin' chickin wings. 'N make a real meal outta it 'n shit. If da profits is good, I mights e'en be aba ta hire meh some JDs t' man da grease traps. 'n I can see 'bout bringin' some out to command the register 'n put summa dem good ol' communicayshun skills t' work. I mean, shit, if ya paid good money for dat them there here law degree, ya mights as well be ables to use it for work. Am I right o am I right?

I don't know. I heard the convention speeches from both parties, and any mention of student loan debt is tacit at best.

My guess is that the taxpayer backed loan money will keep pouring in, and for all existing cash cow and new (such as this) lower tier schools of law and maybe by 2016, after a lot more lives are harmed, the Sl debt issue will be taken seriously.

It is all so depressing and discouraging, and a deeply indebted old age seems inevitable, and so bleak.

JD..you have to be one of the biggest dumbasses of all time. Instead of sitting around stroking it while you hope to get some politician to wipe out yout debt, why dont you try and pass the bar again.

Student debt is a non issue because the Democrats already have your vote because you hate rich or successful people and the Republicans know that you would still vote Democrat even if they mentioned the debt issue for the same reason. Your bitterness runs so deep that no matter what you are voting Democrat. Its a mindset that no matter what the truth is, you think the Democratic party will save you,

Didn't JD Painterguy graduate from law school about 20 years ago? How is he supposed to pass the bar now? And one more thing, no one wants to hire someone who took 20 years to pass the bar. Forget law firms even. No employer would hire someone like that.

Its called sarcasm..and one more thing noone wants to hire someone who passed the bar 20 minutes ago either. Go pass the bar and try working for yourself. Odds are he will fail but whats another 100k jn debt to him.Maybe he will get lucky

"The new hires are all minority women, except for Cummings who received his J.D. from Howard University."

The fact that the school is hiring, almost exclusively, members of racial minorities as faculty indicates that they will be making a huge effort to recruit minority students. It is a form of affinity fraud.

It also reminds me of something. Blacks were especially receptive to the homeownership scamming in the early '00s that fueled the bubble. They were receptive because of a long history of blacks being denied housing loans and kept out of many nice neighborhoods. The scammers played on those cultural memories, peddled their overpriced houses and bad loans, and basically wiped out the African-American middle class.

Now, the scammers are counting on minorities being receptive to the siren song of the law schools based on cultural memories of being denied professional education or being humiliated by racists in the justice system. Unfortunately, as with housing, a JD is something that was a wise investment in a different era, but now is a catastrophe.

Love the Picture Nando. Now whenever I see the word "asshat," which is fairly frequent on your blog, I'll have a visual imprint on the brain going forward. You should get creative with Photoshop and start doing crazy shit to some of these "asshats."

I for one am glad that Indiana Tech is opening a law school. It will serve an area of the country that is sorely lacking for law schools. There are almost no options for legal education within 200 miles of Fort Wayne's burgeoning legal market.

Besides the lack of nearby law schools, Indiana Tech has one other major selling point. They plan to have a concentration in International Law. I am pretty certain there is someone at The Hague right now who is pondering some deep issue of international law, saying to themselves, "Dammit. If only Indiana Tech would graduate its first class, we could finally get someone in here who could tell us what to do."

Web letter by Jennifer Lalos: Don’t expect much from degree from unaccredited Indiana Tech law school

Every time I drive by an Indiana Tech billboard touting its new law school, I feel sick to my stomach. There are already four law schools in Indiana, all within three hours of Fort Wayne with at least two ranked in the top 100. Do we really need an unaccredited law school in Fort Wayne? Given the current outlook in the legal profession, I think no.

In May 2011, my husband graduated in the top third of his class from the Washington University School of Law in St. Louis, a tier-one law school ranked 19th at the time of his graduation. He went on to pass the Illinois bar exam and fervently networked, interviewed and applied for jobs. The result? No job, no way to pay off the $130,000 in debt he incurred and no great prospects. But he wasn’t alone. In Washington University’s graduating class last year, only 72 percent were employed in jobs requiring juris doctorates, a grim statistic in the face of substantial debt.

You may think that that’s too far away to matter here, so perhaps we should look closer to home. Last year, the Maurer School of Law at Indiana University, ranked a mere three spots below Washington University, reported just a 70 percent juris doctorate employment rate. Just more than two hours away, and an hour closer than Bloomington, is the 129th-ranked University of Toledo Law School. This school touts a 55 percent juris doctorate employment rate, a dismal number no matter how you spin it. It’s hard to miss the trend: The lower you go in the rankings, the more difficult it is to find employment that actually uses the degree you spent three years and likely more than $100,000 getting. The Indiana Tech Law School will be a new school in a small market, and it will have no proven academic track record or even any accreditation. Can we seriously believe that their graduates will fare better than those of Maurer or even the University of Toledo Law School?

So here we are a year and another degree later. My husband now has a bachelor’s, juris doctorate and a master of laws in tax, all from highly ranked institutions, and for all intents and purposes can practice law in Illinois. He’s spent the past year living in St. Louis while completing a free master of laws program at Washington University, a last resort when he couldn’t find a job last year. He has been persistent in his nationwide search for a job. Alas, still no job. There are more prospects these days, but not too many in the legal field.

We are running out of options but keeping our heads up. We have been married for seven months and lived together for exactly zero of them. Though I am a gainfully employed kindergarten teacher, I hardly make enough to support us both, and certainly not enough to pay on both of our student loans. I am confident that my husband will find a job in time, but it is hard to believe that any graduate in a school ranked out of the top 100 will have any luck, even with time. So, before you commit to attending the Indiana Tech Law School, consider this tale. Do not expect your Indiana Tech Law degree to pay off; simply expect to pay out.

Just curious but if your husband was top third in his class and seventy percent find jobs and hes looking nationwide i would be concerned more about his personality interview resume skills or unwillingness to take a low starting salary then the oveall scam which is geared toward lower tier schools imho.

“Now, why do Hoosiers need the opportunity to spend over $85K at Indiana Tech Law? Here’s the logic (and I use that word loosely), as reported by the National Law Journal:

“We have given this decision careful research and consideration, and we believe we can develop a school that will attract and retain talented individuals who will contribute to our region’s economic development,” said Indiana Tech President Arthur Snyder….

Should Indiana Tech add a law school as planned, it would be the fifth law school in Indiana and the seventh within a three-hour drive of Fort Wayne….

Still, lack of access to legal education is one reason Indiana Tech is moving forward with its plans, Snyder said, noting that about half of Indiana residents attending ABA-approved law schools are doing so out of state.

“There are potential students who desire a law school education who cannot get that education in this area, and there are people in our state who need legal services who don’t have access to them,” he said.

Who? Who needs access to legal education and cannot currently get any within three hours of Fort Wayne who has any business going to law school? I’m serious — couldn’t the state make universities identify one actual student who would benefit from having a new law school? We could call it the Joe Blow rule: new law schools need to identify one Joe Blow who will testify under oath that he is a credible law school candidate who was nonetheless denied legal education.”

The National Law Journal - an industry rag - notes that THIS WILL BE THE SEVENTH DAMN LAW SCHOOL WITHIN A THREE HOUR DRIVE OF FORT WAYNE, INDIANA!!

http://www.cityoffortwayne.org/fort-wayne-facts.html

According to the City of Fort Wayne’s website, it had an estimated population of 253,691 - based off of 2010 U.S. Census data. Does this seem to be an area that can support a ton of recent lawyers?!?!

Mystal concludes this piece, with a stinging indictment against the university’s chief swine:

“My favorite line is this one from the NLJ:

Additionally, the law school could be the first to offer a joint juris doctor and master of science degree in leadership, since the university already has several programs in leadership, [Snyder] said.

Leadership is something that Indiana Tech President Arthur Snyder doesn’t seem to know much about. You’re not supposed to lead prospective students to financial ruin just because they’re stupid enough to follow you.”

In the end, U.S. colleges, universities and graduate schools do not give one damn about leadership. They merely want to milk every last drop from the federal loan teat. If the pigs need to FINANCIALLY RUIN an entire generation of educated people, in order to keep the gravy train rolling, then they will write them off as “collateral damage.”

Great, a master's degree in "leadership." For all I know these programs have been around for a while, but this is the first I have heard. Note that they don't call it "management," which might create the expectation that they had some skill-based knowledge and training to offer.

I do feel deeply for kids who have been suckered by the JD scam, as well as those suffering from the consequences of other overpriced and practically useless academic programs. But anyone who would put that shit on their resume--"M.A. in Leadership"--deserves to be a laughingstock (and will be).

Another law school? They'll find students, the faculty will be grossly overpaid, and the graduates won't find jobs, but will be saddled with monumental taxpayer funded debt.I feel more sadness than outrage; it seems so crass for the gullible to be preyed upon by those with no scruples.

Don't be hopeless, anonymous. Just leave this worthless piece of shit country. Go to Canada. Never pay a dime on your student loans. Live it up. Meet a nice Canuck man or woman. Have lots of kids. Laugh about your unpaid student loans. Tell Sallie mae to suck you off.

On April 20, 2012, the Indiana Lawyer published a piece from Jennifer Nelson, under the headline “Proposed law school building at Indiana Tech approved.” Look at this portion:

“The 70,000 square-foot building will be located on the school’s main campus in Fort Wayne. The law school intends to open in fall 2013 with 100 students, eventually reaching a total enrollment of 360 students. A groundbreaking is scheduled for May, according to the school’s website.

The law school hired its assistant dean of admission, Jessica Anderson, in March. According to a timeline posted online by the school, it intends to spend the fall visiting area colleges and university pre-law fairs to promote the law school. In September, the admission application will be available with admission decisions complete by November.

Tuition for the full-time school is projected to be nearly $30,000. The school anticipates receiving provisional American Bar Association accreditation in the spring of 2015.”

Of course, the vultures plan to spend their time recruiting at local colleges and pre-law fairs, in order to find more willing victims. According to Cockroach Melvin Schweitzer, these students are “sophisticated consumers.” The fact remains that there is no valid reason for opening another law school in the state.

According to Catherine Rampell’s June 27, 2011 article for the New York Times, “The Lawyer Surplus, State by State,” Indiana has an attorney glut. This info is based off of data published by Economic Modeling Specialists Inc., i.e. a neutral group with no direct stake in “legal education.”

Hell, Indiana is listed as the 22nd most oversaturated legal job market, in the nation. EMSI estimates that Indiana will have 339 annual attorney openings, from 2010-2015. However, 602 people passed the state bar exam in 2009. I know that “law professors” love to joke that lawyers are terrible at math, but anyone with an IQ above 85 can quickly figure out that this is a SURPLUS of 263 attorneys. For those with learning disabilities, this article also published this figure.

The pigs are CLEARLY opening a law school, simply because they recognize that these diploma mills are cash cows to the university. The rats are certainly not concerned for the students’ outcomes. After all, “higher education” is now a mere commodity, in this country.

On July 29, 2011, Elie Mystal posted a piece for ATL, employing the headline “A Resigning Law Dean Spills The Beans On The Fleecing Of Law Students.” Read this lengthy excerpt:

"It’s the not-so-veiled secret of the law school tuition game: law schools are the cash cows of the university system. University presidents, often feeling a budget crunch from a decrease in state educational funding or weak, recession-era fundraising initiatives, know they can get cash out of law schools. For some reason, law students always seem willing to pay more for the same education.

When the New York Times wrote its big exposé on law school funding, I highlighted this exact issue. The most interesting part of that Times article was the research David Segal did into how much money universities take from law school coffers. After the article went up, I wrote: “[N]obody in their right mind would pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to get additional education in some of this crap, because they know they’ll never make enough to justify the cost. The university needs to subsidize that education in some way — and so they turn to law schools.”

Apparently, we didn’t know the half of it. One brave law school dean has been asked to tender his resignation by his university president. On his way out of the door, the dean decided to shine a light on the whole ugly mess of law school economics…

Phillip J. Closius is the now-outgoing dean of the University of Baltimore Law School. But we should call him “Dean Whistle Blower.” His resignation letter, transmitted to the entire Baltimore Law community, is a reasoned explanation of everything that is wrong with the economics of law school.

In his long letter (reprinted in full below), Dean Closius explains how the University of Baltimore appropriates law school funds for “non-law University functions.” He explains his battles with the University president over even obtaining accurate data about how much money the university is taking from the law school. Apparently, the problem with law school transparency starts much higher up than we knew.

Here is the money section:

The unwillingness of the University to discuss in a meaningful way the growing imbalance in the financial relationship was also becoming a matter of principle to me. We have increased our in-state tuition over 70% and our out-of-state tuition over 48% in the last seven years. Our in-state day students last year paid $1,450 more in tuition and fees than University of Maryland law day students and our in-state part-time students paid $2,080 more than the University of Maryland law part-time students. Of our students in the 2010 graduating class who borrowed money, the average law school debt was over $95,000.

Media reports continually criticized the rising costs of legal education. I was becoming increasingly uncomfortable justifying tuition and fee increases to law students when the money was actually being used to fund non-law University initiatives. I was also concerned about my continuing effectiveness as Dean given statements by University officials that there were no plans to remedy the situation and that significant funding for School of Law programs was not a University priority."

Does anyone with a brain stem - and some knowledge of the cartel - believe that Indiana In$TTTiTTTuTTTe of TTTechnology is opening a law school so that they can “serve” students?!?!

Objective

This blog is maintained by a graduate of a third tier law school. My goal is to educate prospective law students about the perils of obtaining a legal education. There are many pitfalls - the debt load, the oversupply of lawyers, the fact that there are not enough legal jobs to satisfy nearly 45,000 annual law graduates, and the reality that the majority of law school graduates will end up with low-paying jobs upon completion of their "legal studies."